We love to go out to restaurants and have a number that we visit fairly often.   Over  the past few days, however, we embraced great food at home (and not just ours).   Three times in less than a week, I've been blown away by great flavors, textures, sauces, meats, seafood, and veggies without having to get a reservation or tipping a waiter.  Well, I did do some dishes and cleanup, but it was a small price to pay.  Yes, we had some good wines to go along with it.

On Saturday, Angie treated us to chicken lettuce wraps and a grilled steak salad.  While it may not sound gourmet, believe me it was head and shoulders above similar dishes I've had out.  The lettuce wraps had a nice tang without going overboard and the marinated steak cooked with veggies on the grill, kabob-style served over greens with green beans and bleu cheese was to die for.

We started out with a Schloss Vollrads Riesling Kabinett 2007.  The slight sweetness and great acidity stood up easily with the red pepper flakes in the lettuce wraps.  Next, I opened a Pinot.  While it wasn't the idea choice for the marinated beef, it balanced well with the veggies.  Our Pinot of choice was a Pellegrini Olivet Lane Russian River Valley 2007.  Again, the wine's acidity worked for the most part.  I will revisit this wine soon with a meal more suited for it's characteristics.

Monday afternoon had a Spanish flair.  Ang made some Gazpacho while our friend Michele put together Paella.  Cold veggie soup followed by a combination of mussels, scallops, shrimp, sausage and chicken kept dinner conversation to a minimum.  Needless to say, both were outstanding.  To honor the theme, we had a Rioja Diamante Malvasia - Viura 2008.  Malvasia is noted for higher alcohol and residual sweetness (Oxford Companion to Wine), the Diamante came in at 12%, more in line with German Riesling range. The blending grape, Viura (also known as Macabeo) is the most planted in Northern Spain (OCW).  We all enjoyed the Diamante.  The acidity wasn't what I hoped for, but, again, the slight sweetness worked seamlessly with the meal's spiciness.   

The next night we got an invitation to friends Mark and Cindy's home and a meal that pushed me ever so closer to being a seafood lover.  I will start out by saying I never cared for mussels.  They were a little too fishy tasting for a land lubber like me.  Mark prepared them with a tomato base and pesto that had me clean my appetizer plate before my wife (a girl raised on the Gulf Coast).  I praised the chef, but Mark also gave credit to the fact that the mussels were fresh.  The entree was equally as great: grouper in a killer champagne sauce with caramelized plantains.  Wow!

Being a wine-r, I was remiss in recording the names of the wines we had, but I do remember the styles.  The appetizer was served with a sparkling white.  I've heard that this is an ideal pairing for oysters; well, it ain't too shabby with mussels either.  The Grouper was paired with a nice not-over-the-top Chardonnay.  The light buttery Chard was another hit.

I'll never get out of the restaurant habit.  Well, at least not until I'm forced to retire and end up on the side of the road with a "Will host a wine tasting for food" sign.  At the restuarant, I don't have to do the dishes (at least not yet, see previous sentence).   But a week of eating great food at home helps me appreciate hanging out with friends without having to decided how to split the check.